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| Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Finale?] http://sonic.spindash.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=334 |
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| Author: | NPC [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Finale?] |
The day had flown by. The ragtag band had set out from Dry Lagoon hours ago, and had trekked across the Yellow Desert, around Gigalopolis, and taken a small, uncomfortable boat across the channel from South Island to the United Federation, into Central City—or, as it was now largely known, Eggmanland. The city was crawling with machines, but none of them seemed too concerned with the party. The group, conspicuously large in size, had split up much earlier, leaving Tails, Tabitha, and Midian each to lead a small team into Eggman's deadly factory-city fortress to plant their computers. This left one more group: the crew sent to intercept Seven at Eggman's command center. This was by far the largest party. Arguably led by Coop or Ace (the former an engine of initiative, the latter a buffer of sanity), the group began sprinting through Eggmanland sometime after nightfall, racing against the clock to locate the elusive mobile command center. Towers, clanking and churning and rumbling with with the nonstop noises of dirty industry, puffed dark, noxious smoke into the air; the sky glowed an unnatural shade of dim orange because of it, even in the dead of night, illuminated by the tons upon tons of artificial lighting below. Neon signs, many of Eggman's face or name, and many advertising his products (and many more advertising his mere existence and rule, as if one could forget about it), burned with eye-searing brightness. Shadow and Rouge took caution to move with stealth and speed along the high ground, up above the well-lit "streets" (if the hazard-laden roadways could even be called that), and well out of sight, lest a full-scale alert sound. A few no-name "miscreants" like Ace, Coop, Geoff, Ember, and others could riot their way through town more directly, as it was unlikely Eggman would even take heed of them. The place was a bizarre thing to behold. Like anything built by Eggman, the scale was enormous and larger than life, but what was weird wasn't the scale and grandeur of it, nor even the carnival-like atmosphere of dissonant music and garish, colorful robots, nor the dangerous, pit-filled, spike-lined streets. Instead, it was the vision of Eggmanland — Eggman's apparent idea of an ideal community. There were shops, but no customers. Restaurants without patrons. Virtually no one walked the sidewalks and sky-bridges except robots. Those few organic beings who dared set foot in the city looked either helplessly lost, or were actively getting pushed around and roughed up by Egg Pawns and other giggling, mechanical menaces. Robots entered and exited buildings meaninglessly, feigning some sort of bizarre day-to-day life, chattering and jabbering to one another excitedly about seeing Dr. Eggman, catching Sonic, buying the latest-and-greatest product, and other completely inane, artificial-sounding topics. They were in the right place, alright. They just needed to find that command center. It actually wasn't terribly hard, though. Astraddle the top of a cluster of mid-height steely buildings (perhaps twenty or thirty stories tall) sat a disc-shaped, UFO-like vehicle, at least a football field across in diameter. Neon lights wound around its full circumference, and square light panels flashed and blinked meaninglessly, while a series of LED displays showed triumphant, almost propagandic images of Dr. Eggman standing in front of crowds with hands held high amid falling confetti, and so on, and so forth. There was even an occasional picture of Sonic shown with a big, red "no" sign around his head. Winding rails and skyways led readily to the great machine, making the path there a treacherous but sure one, though its many humongous engines hummed and poured out a neverending flow of steam to signify just how ready it was to take off and flee again at the first sign of danger. It was time to make an approach. A nearby tower displayed 9:55PM. If their friends had done their part, the command center would be ripe for the picking any minute. How to get in? There looked to be hatches and openings across the UFO's surface, top and side included. Even the bottom of the craft, which rested high on chicken-like legs, was girded underneath with catwalks and hanging ladders. The legs themselves also had climbable pegs, presumably for some sort of service purposes. There were at least a few yellow-colored Egg Pawns visible with what looked like hard hats on their heads (Why?), climbing around with welders and other tools, doing maintenance work of some kind. That said, there was a number of ways to approach. The two most obvious were to go in from the bottom and climb a leg, or try to jump down onto its top from a higher tower. The next move was theirs to make. Prop-driven, helicopter-like miniature surveillance drones were thick in the area, scanning around with their red mono-eyes, but if the group moved fast, they could make it. searchindextag chapter4search |
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| Author: | Greens [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Finale?] |
To say it was a disorienting trip up would've been putting it very lightly. When the streets were too dangerous (and frankly, uncomfortable) for practical travel, Ace half-guided his crew in the direction of some winding, physics-defying, transparent escalator to the skies that miraculously led up to the rooftops (courtesy of Doctor Eggman's construction blueprints. Spikes were hopped, rings were collected, and were those checkpoints that were rung? Call it suspiciously convenient, but it didn't change the long and short. They wound up directly on the rooftop they wanted to be on. "..." After a series of short blinks, pondering just what happened and ultimately deciding it wasn't worth the effort, Ace looked out into the area. It was a surprisingly huge rooftop they all stood on, and the pawns all seemed too busy tinkering with the nuts and bolts of the system to notice them. He puffed out a breath, and pondered the plan aloud "Alright," he sighed, scratching at the back of his neck. "Stealth route? Or not stealth?" |
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| Author: | Nuzlocke Griff [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Finale?] |
The whole trip seemed like a complete trip of nostalgia mixed with convenience as everything they did seemed to have been set there, be it a trap or just the fact that Eggman's development routine was just done this way, A tinge of alertness stayed ever so close in mind. Any sudden odd movement by the robots would immediately set off a chain reaction that could, for the better or worse, influence the outcome of the mission. "Well"... he said while staring at Ace, giving him a judgmental look, as he still held a small grudge over his gun being taken awhile back. He had his doubts on his "leaders" tactics, but he set those thoughts aside, as they would only get in the way. "I'm all in on going on a stealth run" he suggested, "but if we need a decoy for anything I'm all ears". He was set on letting himself be a target for whatever means... |
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| Author: | Kazz [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 2:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Finale?] |
Mako had worn out his "oh god why me" reserves by this point; during transit, he had actually run out of things to complain about. For a moment he had considered simply out and out saying 'complain' when he felt the need to air a grievance... but he actually had the sense to know that now was not the time. After musing at great length about why it couldn't have been the unicorn, or anyone else, and not me, the fact of it was: Mako was on the command center party. As they reached the rooftop, Mako took a quick glance around and blanched slightly. "Uhm, stealth? I mean, anything that reduces the chances of getting shot," the shark mumbled, looking over at Ace. Then, the ferret's decoy comment caught his ear, and he quickly added: "... and I'm not playing bait this time if it comes to it." Big, standing behind, nodded along as the other members of the party discussed, seemingly completely devoid of opinion of his own. The gargantuan feline had one of his trusty fishing-rods slung over his shoulder, his thick-as-a-tree-branch tail swaying back and forth in what may have been anticipation. The question was really how stealthy could... some members of their party... be? |
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| Author: | Diluss [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:51 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Finale?] |
Coop leaned away from the edge of the roof. He had been quietly muttering to himself the entire time they had ventured through the enormous rhinestone city that stood there and gleamed in the artificial neon twilight, like a b-lot Vegas set, and had finally had enough. “This is unreal,” he said. “What’s he going to do when he runs out of world, huh?” He slouched around, darkly, to ace’s side. “I dunno,” he said, “ I mean, how fast is this thing going to disappear out if we get noticed?” Coop stared at the structure with a baleful gleam in his eye. “The more of us there are trying to get into that place, the faster they’re going to end up seeing us, too… Maybe we should... Hm. Diversion tactics? Or would that just scare it off.” “Is there any alternative to stealth, here,” he rumbled, unhappily. |
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| Author: | NPC [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
While the group stood around and hemmed and hawed about what to do, a transmission popped and hissed to life through their walkies. "Friends, I hope you're already in position," said Midian's crackling, fuzzing, distorted voice. "Our computer's connected, and it's doing... something. I don't know. It's not supposed to be doing anything yet. Something's just off about this. ... Over." Meanwhile, the entire command center "UFO" did something odd, and blinked once. All its lights, all its equipment, everything, just... shut off for maybe half a second, and then resumed. Something was happening, but it was hard to tell what just yet. |
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| Author: | MuffinUnsane [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
The thrill of being in this bustling city soon worn off as the gravity of their situation weighed down on Ember's mind. This was finally it. They were going to get rid of the talking egg and everything would be just dandy. It was so much like an action movie it was bizarre. When the power shut down, she drew in a sharp breath only to release it seconds later as the glow came back on. "So um, I really hope that's supposed to happen." |
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| Author: | Greens [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
Ace eyed the contraption oddly, and kept his sights on it while he picked up the radio on his own hip. Click. "Yeah, we're in fronna the command center, about to breach. And for what it's worth, there's something off about the whole friggin' world right now." Click. "..." Click. "Over." Click. He turned around to face his portion of the crew at large. "A'right. I'm pretty sure everybody here," he said, with a gesture of his hand, "Has some kinda bad feeling going on about this. So with that in mind, I say: F^#$ it. I'm not patient enough to just sit here and wait until whatever surprises might be in store comes to us." With that, he whipped out a card of indeterminate suit and number, turned back around, and hurled it in the direction of the nearest flying camera, hovering inconveniently directly above the command center. It sparked, spun wildly, and finally crash-landed on top of another rooftop away. "So here's the plan," he said over his shoulder. "Buss they ass." He threw another card at one of the Eggpawns holding a ladder, and charged. |
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| Author: | Nuzlocke Griff [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
Part of him was confused, the other part was just as excited to run in and bust something up as much as the alley cat showed. He pulled out his secreted knife and pistol, going in akimbo behind Ace, keeping up enough not to be the last one in but keeping a good enough pace to cover his six. "Sweet" he murmured, "lets bust up some robots huh?" |
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| Author: | Sheff [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
It was as if he'd been waiting for this very inevitable decision. Shadow, having leaped from building to building to their current location, had lingered somewhere near the back of the pack as they fussed over which direction to take. But now, with the full act of aggression already gaining momentum, he darted forward without uttering a syllable. With a whoosh of air and an impressive acceleration, the hedgehog skated forward in a flash. One short jump later, a fleet foot sliced right through one of the numerous cameras flying about, decimating the robot in one fluid motion. The next leap brought him higher, and with the high vantage point, a flurry of gunfire from an energy-crackling weapon hailed down on a few more. Yes, the overly powered, chaos-energy-wielding hedgehog didn't find it suitable to go into a battle with his hands empty. Soon enough, Shadow was back to his gliding motions, ricocheting between every machine that held the foul luck of coming close as he charged forward, most of his victims being that of the camera-bots. Fists swung, feet kicked, energy was shot and quills spun as he sliced through a good portion of whatever was the nearest of the robots with an efficiency that almost seemed cold and mechanical. This was obviously not new to him. Geoff, too, seemed to take the cue to its fullest potential. His arms pumped as he came up to a position behind Ace, eyes roving about to find his own target, but finding mostly the mess of broken metal that the cat and darker hedgehog were already leaving behind. Either way, a long, jagged, crystal spear appeared in his one hand as if waiting for something unexpected to leap out of them, although he did see one target. "So," he asked as he took a moment to slam a home run hit on a Egg Pawn as they passed by. "What happens if that thing flies off?" |
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| Author: | Diluss [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:07 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
“Then we’re all screwed,” replied Coop to the hedgehog. He rushed past, leaving a swirling under-toe of air in his wake. He seemed to be relying on his body as a blunt weapon. He would crash into a small robot, and then backpedal in the air once or twice, before taking off and landing a score on another one. He zig-zagged across the skyline, trying to skip past the majority of them as he fought to gain ground on the massive roving station. He fought towards one of the massive legs that birthed it to the top of another building, in the hopes he could at least grab a hold of it before it began to take off. |
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| Author: | NPC [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
Steam again gushed from the huge thrusters on the bottom of the UFO, now more than ever. If any of the team members who made it beneath the ship were to look up, they would see that in the event the rockets ignited, it was quite possible that they would be incinerated right where they stood. The exhausts of the engines were immense and dome-like, and consumed a better part of the ship's underside. But, again, the power took a strange dip, the lights flickered, and the engines shut off again. Something was interfering with the vessel's attempts at escape. By this point, all units were on alert. The camera-equipped drones began swooping from virtually all angles. Some fired shots on the approaching group, others just plain kamikazed at them with propellers spinning. As harmless as "drone" type enemies normally were in the scope of adventures in robotic wastelands, there was actually a fairly significant threat there, as even smashing one of them could still easily cause a would-be-hero to take a detached propeller to the face anyway. Unless they were all very careful and evasive (which would prove one of their greater challenges while climbing the pegs mounted on the ship's legs), someone was likely going to get buzzed or cut in the ensuing drone storm. That said, whoever made it to the top of a leg first would find a set of grated metal catwalks hanging from the ship's underside. They were narrow, so the opposition, a group of maintenance-worker Egg Pawns, had to stand awkwardly in single-file lines along the catwalks to oppose the infiltrators. Once past them, though, it wouldn't be much farther to find an actual bay door that led inside of the command center. (Of course, demolishing or otherwise opening it would be a part of the challenge.) |
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| Author: | Diluss [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
Coop grappled with one of the leg-peg ladders awkwardly as he attempted to scale it to the catwalk above. The low ceiling meant that he could not simply flap his gigantic self up and would have to exercise at least a modicum of exertion in another direction. He grunted and tucked his head down, away from the buzzing propellors, and began heaving his body up one rung at a time. The massive, gelatinous dent in his shoulder from the run-in with the factory oozed slightly. He frowned, and kept on pulling himself upward. |
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| Author: | MuffinUnsane [ Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:24 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
Hand aflame, Ember lept into the fray of drones. As she made her way to the pegs she found herself finding it easier than she expected. However, when it came to climbing the pegs that outlook quickly changed. Flying couldn't be done and her progress was hurt because of it. Keeping her limbs close to her body as she climbed, the bird was thankfull she wasn't Coop's size. Being a smaller target was a blessing. It didn't stop a drone from attempting to smash into her. As it swooped down, Ember swung away from the peg dangling from one hand. The free hand promptly 'fired up' and smashed into the glowing red eye. It was a bad move on her part. The moving blades sliced across her stomach opening a sizable spilt. Choking back a scream she wrenched her hand from the now still robot. Ember berated herself as she swung her body back onto the pegs. Blood was soaking into her pants but she couldn't stop. Stopping meant a dead bird. Maybe at least she would get a wicked scar out of all of this. |
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| Author: | Nuzlocke Griff [ Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Of freedom and of pleasure (Ch. 4: Day 4, pt. II) [Final |
The first warning made one point pretty clear, covering six was not a good idea. The scene took a change for the worse as security took notice of the group and retaliated to their presence, with full intensity. Quickly grabbing onto the leg ladders was a firsthand good option, as to lower the chances of being fried by the engines. Desmond took hold of one and began climbing ferociously. Shots were being fired everywhere and he wasn't trying to get hit. He repaid the courtesy of the droids firing at him by plugging a few holes into their mainframe, sending down a hulking, burning mess. Ammo was a bit scarce in his case and his knife would have to be his new best friend for him to survive. As soon as the droids began dive bombing into them, his luck took a trip down south. When he threw his knife at a droid, it exploded as planned, luckily flinging his knife back into his hand. Out of the smoke came a propeller darting right at his face. He ducked only to take a shot to the thigh. He let out a cry as the pain traveled down his leg, making it go limp. "Great," he achingly chuckled "I just got dead weight for now I guess." He continued traveling in a slow but steady pace, attempting to avoid making the same mistake twice. |
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